Language form and language function.

NEWMEYER, FREDERICK J.

ISBN 10: 0262140640 / ISBN 13: 9780262140645

Published by Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, 1998

About this Item

Orig. half cloth. With dustjacket. xii,428 pp.; 24 cm. - "Language, speech, and communication" Text in English (previous owner's name at top of title page) Otherwise as new. 'A Bradford book.'. 1020g.

Seller Inventory # 22448

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Language form and language function.
• Publisher: Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262140640
• ISBN 13: 9780262140645
• Binding: Hardcover
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Weight: 1020 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Taalkunde

About this title

Synopsis

The two basic approaches to linguistics are the formalist and the functionalistapproaches. In this engaging monograph, Frederick J. Newmeyer, a formalist, argues that bothapproaches are valid. However, because formal and functional linguists have avoided directconfrontation, they remain unaware of the compatability of their results. One of the author's goalsis to make each side accessible to the other. While remaining an ardent formalist, Newmeyer stressesthe limitations of a narrow formalist outlook that refuses to consider that anything of interestmight have been discovered in the course of functionalist-oriented research. He argues that thebasic principles of generative grammar, in interaction with principles in other linguistic domains,provide compelling accounts of phenomena that functionalists have used to try to refute thegenerative approach.

About the Author

Frederick J. Newmeyer is Chair of the Department of Linguistics, University of Washington.